Seasonality in wildlife watching is an important consideration, but ‘micro-timing’ shouldn’t be overlooked. There’s a time of day when we rarely meet anyone else on our tours, and I don’t entirely understand why…

Thursday was Day Five for Clare and Peter, and I collected them from The Swan before heading north to start our day on the coast. The rising tide brought Turnstone, Redshank, Curlew, Purple Sandpiper and Ringed Plover towards us as Common Eider drifted on the swell and innumerable Gannets circled above what must have been a huge shoal of fish. Bar-tailed Godwits, probing in the sand, were moved towards the pebbly shore by the inexorable tide until eventually they abandoned feeding and roosted on a rocky outcrop alongside Curlew. In the rising tidal reaches of a river, a Dipper entertained us by diving headlong into the water, a female Goosander sailed serenely into view before diving and re-emerging back under the riverside vegetation, Grey Wagtails added a stunning splash of colour and a Kingfisher raced by.

As dusk approached a Starling murmuration was passed by a Marsh Harrier and a noisy roost of geese included Canada, Greylag, Pink-footed and – my favourite wildfowl escapees – Bar-headed Geese. A lone Ruff remained when the roosting Lapwings took flight, but was then joined by a Redshank. Dusk is, by some considerable margin, my favourite time of the day – regardless of habitat type – and it was a great finish to a great week guiding Clare and Peter around Northumberland’s well known, and some less well known, birdwatching hotspots 🙂 We hope they’ll be back soon to explore more!

2 Comments for this entry

Thanks Martin for a wonderful holiday. The itinerary was exactly what we wanted. Saw loads of the stunning Northumbrian coast, nature reserve ponds and North Pennines, and Martin was incredibly knowledgeable about finding wildlife for us to spot. The Swan rooms were comfortable and spacious, and the food excellent.

Forgot to say for this day, how rewarding it was to spot a kingfisher (one of my hopes tor the holiday) and also the dippers (one of Peter’s favourite birds). Also on this particular day, the pond at dusk was particularly atmospheric – like watching a theatre production.